Oak Ridge Boys Member Richard Sterban, 82, Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer

Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys is revealing his pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

The singer, who’s been with the quartet since 1972, shared the health update on Thursday, Sept. 25, on the Oak Ridge Boys’ website.

“In March of this year, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,” Sterban, 82, said. “But I am under the care of the best cancer doctors in the country and, with the help of the Good Lord above, I believe I will be able to get through this.”

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“I want to thank everyone, especially the fans, for your concern, and I would appreciate your continued prayers. Most days I’m feeling very good,” Sterban concluded, “and I hope to be back out on the road in several months.”

Before joining the Oak Ridge Boys, Sterban sang with J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet. His credits also include performing with Elvis Presley and appearing in the 1972 movie, Elvis on Tour.

The last time Sterban appeared with the Grammy-winning quartet was in May at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas. The Oak Ridge Boys plan to schedule performances in 2026.

Sterban’s health update comes over a year after the late Joe Bonsall announced in January 2024 that he was retiring from touring.

“Many of you know I have been battling a slow onset (over four years now) of a neuromuscular disorder,” he told PEOPLE exclusively at the time. “I am now to a point that walking is impossible so I have basically retired from the road.”

“It has just gotten too difficult. It has been a great 50 years and I am thankful to all the Oak Ridge Boys band crew and staff for the constant love and support shown to me through it all,” he said.

“I will never forget and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying,” concluded Bonsall, who died that July of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) complications at 76.

Ben James stepped in for Bonsall and was first introduced at a 2022 concert in Wheeling, West Virginia.

The Oak Ridge Boys, made up of Sterban, Bosnall, Duane Allen and William Lee Golden, formed in 1973 as the long-running quartet. Throughout their tenure, they won three Grammy Awards and several Gospel Music Association Dove Awards